St. John Baptist CE Primary

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The Governing Board

Welcome to the Governing Board of St John Baptist (Southend) CE Primary School

On behalf of the Governing Board, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to our school website and provide you with some information on the Governing Board at St John Baptist (Southend) CE Primary School.

The governors are volunteers who, using skills and experience from various backgrounds, work closely with the Headteacher to provide the very best opportunities for learning and development for all children at St John's. The governors are the strategic leaders of our school and have a vital role in making sure all children have access to an enriched education and the opportunities they deserve.

Our three core strategic functions are:

Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;

Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and

Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

There are 16 governors who have been appointed to ensure that these functions are met. We do this through our meetings where we support and encourage the Senior Leadership Team while acting as a critical friend.

At St John Baptist, governors, staff, volunteers, parents, carers and children work as a team, building on success, in a safe, happy, secure, stimulating and high attaining environment where everyone feels valued. We care for our school and want it to provide the best possible education for every child.

I would like to thank all parents and carers who encourage and support their children. Parents and carers are the prime educators of learning and it is so important that you work with the school and share a great interest in your child's learning and development.

Should you with to contact me to discuss any matters please do so by first contacting our Headteacher, Mrs Derham.

Mr Julian Lyons

Chair of Governors

 

The Governing Board of St John Baptist (Southend) CE Primary School:

  

Governors Details 

Name Type of Governor Position
Mrs Elizabeth Derham Ex-Officio Headteacher
Mr Julian Lyons Co-opted Chair
Mr Ralph Demeger Staff  Deputy Headteacher
Mrs Amanda Sharman Parent 
Mrs Sonia Jackson Foundation Vice-Chair
Ms Morline Thompson Parent
Mr David Harding Foundation 
Mr Mensah Elliot Co-opted
Ms Joyce Joseph Associate/Adviser School Business Manager
Mr Tony Myers Associate/Adviser Premises Officer
Mrs Gloria Cole Foundation
Reverend Peter Organ Ex-officio Team Rector based at St John's church
Mrs Shea Hollis Foundation
Mr Lorean Innis SDBE
Mrs Alison Lawrie SDBE
Mr Emmanuel Akintokun Co-opted

 Maintenance Scheme

Unlike maintained schools, it is the governors of Voluntary Aided (VA) schools who have a duty to repair and maintain the fabric of their school’s estate.
The Southwark Diocese Board of Education assists schools’ governing bodies in maintaining, managing and improving their school buildings via separate funds received annually from the Department for Education (DfE). This is the allocation for VA schools:
  1. Devolved Formula Capital (DFC). Payment is made annually to all schools and funding controlled by the school.
  2. Voluntary Aided School Condition Allocation (VA-SCA). This is for VA schools only and controlled by the Board. Schools may bid for funding annually and an SDBE committee prioritises bids according to DfE guidelines.
For Voluntary Aided schools, both DFC & VA-SCA grant is paid in 90% terms. The school, through its own funding methods and through subscribing to our External Priority Maintenance Scheme, must contribute the remaining 10%.
As St John’s is a Voluntary Aided school, parents are asked to make an annual voluntary contribution to support the maintenance of the school. In particular, our school buildings are owned by the Church (through the Diocese of Southwark). 
This fund is entirely separate from the main school budget allocated by the Local Authority (Lewisham LA) to the school, under a formula based on the number of pupils in the school. We receive about £7500 per year per pupil from the LA which helps to cover the running costs of the school. However, due to inflation and rising costs of utility and maintenance bills, your contribution to the School Maintenance Fund is vital to St John’s. 
Why do we have the School Maintenance Fund?
  1. Unlike Local Authority state schools, voluntary aided schools are required to contribute 10% towards the cost of any refurbishment or building works. To cover this, we pay a fixed annual sum per pupil out of this Fund, rather like an insurance premium, into a scheme run by the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education (SDBE), in which funds accumulate for capital expenditure, maintenance and minor improvements. 
  2. Under the scheme, the SDBE also undertakes many supportive tasks such as meeting the cost of consultants and administering building contracts. Any planned large capital expenditure is bid for and the success of the bid will be determined by the urgency of the need and the demands of other schools also bidding for that money. 
Whilst the fund is voluntary, the Governors cannot stress its importance strongly enough and we thank you for your continued generosity and investment in the school. 
 How to contribute to the Maintenance Fund
We have received generous donations in the past to help us and we hope you will be able to give what you can.  Although we suggest payments of £60.00 per child per year (£10.00 per term), we must stress we ask you to only pay what you can afford, and if you can pay more, extra donations are greatly appreciated. 

Governor Details

Register of Interests

Governor Code of Conduct

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